literacy for all top ten

7/27/2019 Literacy for All Top Ten

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Top 10 thingswe have learnedin the 2012 2013

Literacy for All

Community of Practice


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10. Literacy is a life skill.


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And participants added

Literacy:

includes reading, writing, listening, communicating

is about quality of life

is about independence

communicating should be #1

supports social connections face time, texting

transfers to so many areas!

Friendship and social skills are embedded in literacy.

You can embed life skills like communication, personalmanagement, socialization into literacy learning.

Literacy is rooted in social interactionmost important partof life!


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9. Every student has the right to meaningfuland engaging learning experiences.


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Children need to be involved in choice of activities and ways

to express their learning to meet their individual interests

needs, challenges.

Good instruction is good instruction need to think of

same instruction for all students.

This means every child regardless of cognitive/physical ability

has the right and ability to learn (in different ways and to

different degrees).

Set the expectation/standard high, provide the opportunity

for students to meet/achieve the expectation.


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8. There are many ways to read a book orwrite a story.


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Comprehension and expression are the important goals for

some students that is something other than traditional

paper/pencil reading and writing

Technology opens up a lot of doors. e.g., use of Storymaker

website to write stories, Tumblebooks for reading, Raz-Kids

BookFlix is free through Learnalberta.ca

Expand the definition of literacy beyond just reading and

writing audio books (e.g., CDs, itunes, Victor Readers, etc.)

Read/write through pictures

The 2 Sisters talk about 3 ways to read a book



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7. There are many ways to collect evidenceof student success.


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Portfolios are great ideas work samples, pictures, learner

profiles!

With students with significant disabilities we need to find

alternative ways to assess their learning.

Teacher observation is valid assessment

Anecdotal notes are important for everyone!

Outcome-based assessment gives a more well-rounded view

of student achievement (and of teaching effectiveness too!) Use videos and pictures to collect student data

Emergent Literacy Behaviours Checklist is a great starting

point for assessment

Conversations with our students provide valuable data!



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6. Literacy skills build students ability to

communicate


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Also a FACT!

Literacy is more than reading and writing there are many ways to achieve the goal of literacy

We need to be cognizant of alternate ways to communicate

(e.g., eye gaze, pictures, speaking) As literacies are developed, students will be better able to

demonstrate the 3 Es ethical citizens, engaged thinkers with

entrepreneurial spirit

Literacy enhances students use of oral communication, signlanguage, and Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

Communication goals can be incorporated into literacy learning

for students with complex communication needs



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5. Teacher observation is a powerful

assessment tool.


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Teacher observation can be a way to collect data about social/emotional growth (all observation)

literacy behaviours

growth in motivation

how students are able to explain their thinking

unprompted, natural assessment

as a teaching tool (e.g., students can watch and learn from videos ofthemselves)

for some students it is the primary assessment tool

Assessment should be used to guide future

instruction/learning.

Dynamic assessment procedures learning while assessingfiguring out what supports and strategies will move learningforward.

Make assessment it concrete through portfolios.



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4. Good instructional practices are good

for all students.


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Quality instruction is good for all students

All students benefit from structure, support ad a celebration

of their successes

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) benefits all students

A solid foundation benefits all

Yes!



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3. Sometimes stepping back is the mostsupportive thing you can do for a student.


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Stepping back: allows students to take control of their learning

gives students the chance to teach others about what they know andhow they have learned.

allows self discovery

gives you time to really listen to what they are saying let the kids surprise you with how much they can do

is a confidence booster

assume competence

gives choice

If we trust our studentsthey will meet our expectations

Let them make mistakes and then provide as little support aspossible to correct must be done in a safe environment

Create a safe environment so its okay to step back.



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2. As teachers, we all have a lot to learnfrom one another.


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We can learn from others mistakes and experiences.

We can share resources and strategies.

We need time to learn together.

We need structures and resources that allow us to learntogether online communities, Professional LearningCommunities (PLCs).

Never stop learning! Have a growth mindset.

Our learning should be responsive to what our students

learning needs are. We dont always have to re-invent the wheel!

Invite each other and our students to the research tabletalk about why is what we do important?



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1. Were not only teaching our students,

were teaching others about how ourstudents learn.


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Share strategies with school staff

Create opportunities for students to teach other students

Allows us to be models for other specials needs classroom

Professional learning communities

We can help students learn how they learn through the use oflearner profiles and experimentation with different learningstyles so they can see what works for them

Communicating with and educating our parents to help build

their capacity to focus on their childs progress and success (inrelation to their personal growth)


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